Hinged joint for leg braces



March 20, 1951 H. COHAN 2,545,843

HINGED JOINT FOR LEG BRACES Filed Aug. 30, 1949 F lG. I.

INVENTOR HENRY COHAN,

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 20, 1951 OFFICE HINGED JOINT FOR LEG BRACES Henry Cohan, Rock-yille Centre, N. Y. Application August 30, 1949, Serial No. 113,131

invention relates toimprovements in orthopedic appliances and the like and has par ti'cular reference to a hinged joint for leg-braces. Leg braces are, in general, made up of inner and outer upper and lower leg-bars for each leg; the'upper leg-bars being connected'in juxtaposition to the knee joint, to the lower leg bars by a hinged joint which permits adjustment of the angle of the upper leg bars with respect to the lower leg-bars. The angular movement of the lower leg bars with respect to the upper leg bars is limited to angles from approximately 180 to approximately 90 on one side only.

' When a leg-brace is in use, While a wearer is standing or walking, the upper and lower sections are set to assure a 180 angle and must be securely looked in such adjustment. When, however, the wearer assumes a sitting position the lower leg-bar of the leg=brace may be swung inwardly around its hinged connection with the upper leg-bar, to assume a position approximating an angle of 90 between the two sections, Itis an object of this invention to provide a hinged jointhaving simple means which will allow the wearer to readily unlock the hinged joint, adjust the upperand lower leg bars to any angle,'between 180 and 90, desired and se curely relock the hinged joint to prevent dental swinging movement. A

' Another object of this invention is the provision of a simple means therein, for counterlocking the locking unit to prevent accidental releas'eof same.

A further object of this invention is the provision therein of a spring means to urge the looking elements apart when the locking unit is opened.

As already stated generally each leg-brace comprises two sets of upper and lower leg-bars. A single bar, however, has been selected for descriptive purposes. The two sets of leg-bars embrace a leg of the wearer on either side of the leg and are similar in construction to that hereinafter described for a single hinge, with the one exception. That is, in the connecting hinge one set of leg-bars upon one side of a leg has a right hand threaded locking key, while that upon the opposite side of the same leg is provided with a left hand threaded locking key.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of an organization in which the constituent elements are so arranged structurally and functionally as to assure improved results with materials and members which may be manufactured at reasonable cost, may be easily asacct 2 Claims; (Cl. 128- 80) sembled and which will be emcient in oueratiim with minimum wear to the parts.

The best embodiment of the invention hasbeen chosen for illustrative purposes, but this embodiment should be viewed as being illustra tive only and not as limiting because obviously the invention is capable of other embodiments having revised details of construction, so long as they fall within the ambit of the appended claims.

The invention itself, however, both as to its or ganiz'ation and its method of operation, will best be understood from the following description or a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view or a locking unit upon;-

f by the arrows.

Figure 4 is a side view similar t'oFi'gure i but showing the joined portions of a leg braceset at a right angle to each other and has a portion of the lower hinge member broken away.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentar detail, partly in section, of a portion of the lower'hinge' member, the upper hinge member being removed."

Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary detail showing the reverse side of the upper hingemember. v I

Figure 7 is a lan View of a split circular spring employed in this invention.

Figure 8' is a side elevational view of same.

I Figure 9 is a fragmentary detail, in elevation, showing the spring of Figures '7 and 8 in pcisiti'on,

and

Figure '10 is a schematic view, in e1evatitn, of a'stop means employed in this invention.

Referring to the parts in detail, il designates the end portion or the upper or thigh-bar 'of a leg-brace and I2 the end portion of a lower legbar of a leg-brace. To the lower end of the thigh-bar ll there is attached, by rivets I3, an upper hinge element I4 formed with a disklike tongue l5 engageable between disklike forks I6 and I! formed upon a lower hinge element I8 which is attached, by rivets l9, to the upper end of the lower leg-bar I2. See Figure 3, which shows the upper and lower leg-bars II. and I2 respectively and in which view the disklike fork 3 IE will be considered the upper fork While the disklike fork I! will be referred to as the lower fork.

The disklike tongue I5 is formed upon one side (the lower side as viewed in Figure 3) with a recess 20 (Figure 6), annularly bordering which, are radially arranged corrugations or ribs 2i and wall 22 to form a circular groove 23 just inside of the radial ribs 2|. To the upper side of the lower fork I! there is attached, by screws 24,- a disk 25 formed with a recess 26 and radially arranged corrugations or ribs 21, which are complementary to and engage the corrugations 2| upon the disk-like end 15 of the upper hinge element 14. A circular groove 28, corresponding to and aligned with the groove 23, is formed upon the disk 25. When the disk-like tongue is in place between the forks l6 and I1, the radial corrugations or ribs 2| thereon face downwardly and interlock with the corrugations 21 upon the disk 25 and are held in close, locking contact thereon by means of a locking pin 29, the lower end of which has a threaded engagement with the lower fork I! as at 39.

The pin 29 has a broadened upper head 3|, forming a shoulder 32 which engages the disklike tongue I5 to bring the corrugations 21 into close, nesting contact with the corrugations 27 upon the disk 25 thereby holding the connected members l4 and I2 in locked position. The head 3| of the pin 29 has an extending arm or lever 33 by means of which the pin 29 is screwed into or unscrewed from its threaded connection 30 to lock the corrugated portions together or release same to allow them to be moved apart. A split wire spring 34 (Figures 7, 8, and 9), is nested within the grooves 23 and 28 to urge the corrugated portions 2| and 21 apart when the pin 29 is turned and unscrewed by the lever 33.

A stop member, in form of a screw 34, is threaded through the lower fork l1, extends into the recesses 29 and 26 and is partially cut away at its inner end to form a contact surface 35 (Figures 5, 6, and which is adapted to engage a similar or complementary cut-out or contact surface 35 formed upon a screw 31 which is secured upon the disk-like tongue l5 and extends into the recesses 20 and 26 in circular alignment with the stop member 34. The said stop member screws 34 and 31 respectively provide a means to limit the swing o rotation of the lower legbars beyond 180 with respect to the line of the upper leg-bars. By changing the depth of the cut out portions of the said screws 34 and 31, the degree of the outward swing may be varied a few degrees above or below the 180 or straight line adjustment by replacing the sto screws shown, with the ones desired.

.Assuming that a wearer of the leg brace is standing, the upper and lower leg-bars will be locked in a straight line or at an angle of 180", as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. When the wearer assumes a sitting position and desires to bend his leg, he releases the lever 33 from its locked position by disengaging the clip 38 as indicated in Fig. 3, whereupon the said lever 33 may be turned to rotate the pin 29, thereby disengaging the radial corrugations 2| and 21 upon the discs l5 and I! respectively and permitting the lower legbars to rotate about the pin '29 to assume any desired angle with respect to the upper leg-bars.

To prevent the accidental or inadvertent movement of the lever 33 there is provided upon its end an angular clip 38 pivoted to the lever 33 at 39. The free end 40 of the clip 38 engages in a slot 4| formed in lower hinge element l8 and is held in position therein by the urge of a fiat spring 42 secured to the lever 33 by a rivet 43.

I claim:

1. A hinged joint for leg-braces and the like, comprising upper and lower leg-bars, the combination of an upper hinge element secured to the lower end of an upper leg-bar and having a tongue formation thereon, a lower hinge element formed with forked ends and secured to the upper end of a lower leg-bar, the tongue end of the upper hinge element engaging between the forks upon the lower hinge element, a broad headed pin pivotally engaging through a fork of the lower hinge element and having a contracted lower shank forming a shoulder which engages against the tongue and the contracted shank portion pivotally extending through the tongue of the upper hinge element, a fork upon the lower hinge element having a threaded bore to receive the threaded end upon the pin, radially arranged ribs upon one side of the tongue portion of the upper hinge element, complementary radially arranged ribs upon the opposing face of the fork of the lower hinge element and adapted to engage and inter-lock with the radial ribs upon the tongue, a lever upon and extending from the head of the pin to provide a means for rotating the pin to lock the radial ribs together or move them apart, and a counter-locking clip pivotally attached to the lever and engaging a slot in the lower hinge element to prevent accidental or inadvertent rotation of the pin.

2. A hinged joint for leg-braces as set forth in claim 1, including stop means upon the tongue. portion of the upper hinge element and upon the fork of the lower hinge element, adapted to limit the outward swing of the lower hinge element about its pin connection with the upper hinge element.

HENRY COHAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Lundquist Oct. 31, 1944 

